When I Grow Up
I love to ask students what they want to be when they grow up. The responses never fail to fascinate whilst giving an insight into how they envisage the world and their place in it.
Regardless of the age of the student, there are the perennial favourite responses – doctor, lawyer, police officer, actor, firefighter. There are those who are attracted by the romantic notions of adventure or excitement. Others who choose a life of service to the community. Some see themselves in finance or medicine.
More recently, students are nominating careers as social media influencers, cyber-security specialists or AI creators. And there are those who want to be a ‘dunno’ when they grow up… their answer to the question is ‘don’t know’.
Some students change their minds regularly and others decide upon a career at a tender age and stick to it. It can be hard to know where your child’s latest career preference lies.
You have the busiest job ever created: that of being a parent. It is hard enough keeping track of homework, lost jumpers and water bottles, uniforms for soccer or ballet – let alone having time to ask your child what they want to be when they grow up.
However, next time you are stuck in traffic take the time to pose the question. Listen to the justification for their choice. It will tell you a lot about how they see the world and their place in it. One seven-year-old told me he wanted to be a policeman because he could yell at people and he wouldn’t get in trouble from his mum!
The discussion you have with your child might even remind you of what you wanted to be when you were their age.
So what is ‘Growing up’?
What is it we are really saying when we tell someone to ‘grow up’? It is never said in a positive tone. It can often be uttered in a loud or aggressive manner. It never results in the other person feeling uplifted or validated. While it may be true that the person’s actions are inappropriate, there is, surely, a more effective way to address the behaviour without uttering the two words that bring us to a standstill.
Those two simple words convey a blunt message: what you are doing is entirely inappropriate. It is wrong.
A child can be left with the idea that ‘growing up’ is when joy leaves life; the laughter, the running, and the belief in the impossible must somehow be admonished and left in the past. As if the spark must be extinguished. It makes being an adult sound very dull.
Unfortunately, dull adults make poor role models and uninspiring teachers.
I believe the best teachers never fully grow up.
Don’t get me wrong – I do not mean that they are immature, unreliable or irrational. I mean they retain a spark of child-like innocence and belief that just maybe there is still time to realise ambition – to live the dreams of youth. They bring energy to the classroom that keeps students engaged and wanting to learn. No mean feat in an age where students are bombarded with audio and visual stimuli.
Whether they are in a Year One English or Year 12 Physics class, students need someone with that inner spark to guide them on their learning journey. To be a memorable role model. To make them believe and trust in what is being taught.
No doubt your child has told you the names of teachers they liked. Reflecting on the nature of this group of teachers, do you recognise them to be the type of people who have kept their ‘spark’ alive?
No doubt your child has told you the names of teachers they liked. Reflecting on the nature of this group of teachers, do you recognise them to be the type of people who have kept their ‘spark’ alive?
In the mad rush of our daily lives as adults, we no longer consider the questions we may be afraid to ask ourselves. We don’t ask because we may be afraid of the answers more so than the questions.
Am I doing what I wanted to do now that I am ‘grown up’?
Have I lost the belief that I can still achieve these goals?
Okay, maybe we can rule out ‘astronaut’ ‘world champion skateboarder’ at this stage – doing the school run is tricky from the international space station and it is hard to prepare the kids’ lunches if you are on a board in a half pipe. However, don’t we owe it to ourselves to see what changes we can bring into our own lives to live at least part of our childhood dreams?
Don’t you owe it to your child to let them see you live your best life?
We can easily come up with a long list of why we can’t follow our true career passion: it’s too late, I don’t have the time, I’m too old to go back to study, I have too much to do just looking after the family, etc, etc. There may be obstacles and it may take longer than we planned but it’s never too late to bring our dreams to reality. It could be the key to a more fulfilling life allowing us to further enrich the lives of those we love.
So maybe there is something to be said for never fully growing up if it means we retain our faith in possibilities. That we retain a spark of innocence in a very jaded, cynical world. That we get a chance to be the person we were truly meant to be. That we get to show our children that it is never too late to achieve our goals and there is more to life than merely
‘growing up’.
